Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto was inspired by Édouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, which he played through with Iosif Kotek.
Critical Reception
Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto was initially deemed "impossibly difficult" by Hungarian virtuoso Leopold Auer, to whom it was first dedicated.
Composer Biography
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, while teaching at Moscow Conservatory, met Iosif Kotek, a promising student violinist who later became a musician-in-residence for Tchaikovsky's patron, Nadezhda von Meck.
Composition History
Édouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, despite its title, is essentially a violin concerto, created for and dedicated to the Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky began working on his Violin Concerto in D major in March 1878, after Iosif Kotek suggested the idea.
Notable Performances
The Vienna premiere of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto attracted international attention due to the mastery of the solo part by Adolph Brodsky, to whom Tchaikovsky ultimately dedicated the work.
Recording & Production
On this recording, Ellinor D'Melon plays two different Guarneri 'del Gesù' violins: the 'Caspar Hauser' (c. 1724) for the Symphonie espagnole and the 'Sainton' (c. 1744) for the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.
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